Abyss of Malfeasance

CHAPTER 5: The Gimmick's Come to Naught

Just a few minutes after discussing the plan, Aurum perked up. "This is irrelevant to the whole catch-the-culprit plan we're talking about, but I'm curious, why do you think the victims were killed like that—gruesome and unlike any other murders before."

"Oh! That reminds me, I came upon this the other day," Wynstonne extended his arm so that his wrist would be at the centre of the table. He then pressed a few buttons on his watch before a hologram appeared before them.

"You see, from what Luc had said, each victim had a distinct letter that represented a star carved into their skin. But, other than representing a star, the letter also represents how each victim would be killed." At the other three's loss of words and confused faces, Wynstonne sighed.

    "Where'd you find this?" Aurum abruptly intruded, obtaining narked lours from the three men in the room.

    "I substantially just looked up the current letter we found and the RASPPC popped up," deadpanned Wynstonne whilst he shrugged his shoulders.

    At this, Elucel found himself stifling a cackle. "What a superficial knucklehead,"

The intern cleared his throat, "Anyhow," he continued, "Let's take for example Mars Sollaire's Case, he had a gun pointed at his chest, where, of course, the bullet had penetrated him. Now if you look at the letter 'R'—because Mars had an 'R' carved into his cheek—in the RASPPC, the exact line that 'inspired' this would be, 'looking like a soldier blowing his chest'."

Eyes wide and jaw almost reaching the ground, Aurum exclaimed, "So that's why!", in a voice that suddenly cracked once it reached a certain pitch.

Unable to hold in their laughter, the Wynstonne-proclaimed triumvirate—Callister, Elucel, and Wynstonne—cachinnated in unison. The tense air betwixt the four disappeared in a matter of seconds. "It's not funny, you know!" Aurum sighed in exasperation, threading her fingers in her hair in frustration.

"Well, at least now you know what I feel." muttered Elucel, mocking her as he stuck out his tongue. At this, she tried to elbow him in the ribs—keyword being tried, as she was too slow for the detective prodigy's instincts. "Try harder next time—and, keep in mind that I don't fall for weak attacks like that."

She stuck her tongue out at him, seething at how proud he was. "You're time will come, Luc, you're time will come, more sooner than later." she murmured under her breath.

"Anyways," Callister broke the silence, "now that we've figured out that side of the case, I guess we'll be able to pinpoint the next place of the crime?"

"Hmm, if I were to look back on the crime map, I would say the next place the culprit will strike is probably at the Preschool Building."

"Right, and seeing as the last star is Sirius, represented as an 'S', the crime will most likely be 'inspired' by this line—or words, for this matter—'snake', and, 'a kind of solitary superiority'."

"How are you so sure about this?" Aurum piped.

"Well, it's just a hunch, I guess. I mean, what, from the lines in the paragraph that describe 'S', can you interpret into a crime?" replied Wynstonne.

"If I were the culprit, it is true that I would use the words, 'snake', and, 'a kind of solitary superiority', to interpret my crime, and, maybe, 'create a feeling of sudden surprise', too." Elucel thought out loud, seemingly entranced in his own thoughts.